Ibtihaj Al Harthi
Ibtihaj Al Harthi currently works as an artist and author in Muscat, Oman. Although she grew up in Muscat, Ibtihaj considers the summers spent in her small village located in the Al Sharqiya region of Oman as the best moments of her life. In school, she partnered with her best friend to create their first comic book, which proved very popular amongst their classmates. She studied two degrees in education, only to discover that she loved art more, and in 2015 she graduated with an MFA in Illustration from the Academy of Art University.
Ibtihaj started illustrating children’s books as a hobby, and then expanded her focus to writing her own books. She is the author of ‘Mah and Me’ (a winner of the Itisalat Children’s Books Award for best text) and ‘Who Am I?’ and has illustrated many picture books, including ‘Tales From Jabal Al Akhdar’ and ‘The Boy and the Sea’ amongst others. Motivated by her success in publishing, Ibtihaj subsequently established her art studio, Dahareez Arts, to further her aim of spreading art and culture.